A Cumberland City man and former Clarksville business owner pleaded guilty and no contest Thursday to several sex crimes involving a child, just as jury selection began for his trial.

Lloyd Paul Allard, 57, is facing at least 40 years in prison for two counts of aggravated rape of a child, two counts of aggravated sexual battery, 29 counts of especially aggravated exploitation of a minor and two counts of sexual exploitation of a minor.

Aggravated rape of a child involves a child 3 years old or younger, according to Tennessee law.

All of the charges stemmed from contact with one victim, Stewart County Assistant District Attorney Dani Bryson said.

Allard pleaded no contest to the two most severe counts, aggravated rape of a child, and guilty to the remainder of the charges. A plea of no contest means Allard didn't admit to committing the offenses, but he was unable to prove it, and would, therefore, accept the punishment.

The aggravated rape of a child charges carry a sentencing range of 40 to 60 years, Bryson said.

The especially aggravated exploitation of a minor charges involved the videotaping of the victim, Bryson said, noting that four other related charges were previously dropped by prosecutors.

One of the sexual exploitation of a minor charges involved the possession of sexually explicit images of a minor, and the second charge was for the possession of more than 100 images of child pornography, she said.

Beyond the rape charges, the sentencing range for all the other charges is eight to 12 years, except for the one sexual exploitation involving the possession of images, which carries a two to four year sentence, said Bryson, who was assisted on the case by Assistant District Attorney Josh Turnbow.

A sentencing hearing is set for Sept. 7.

Jury selection in Allard’s trial began just after 9 a.m. on Thursday, and after six people were called to the jury box to be questioned by the attorneys, Allard’s attorney, Stephanie Ritchie, asked for a conference with Circuit Judge Suzanne Lockert-Mash.

Upon her return, the judge dismissed the potential jurors and proceeded to question Allard about his desire to plead guilty to the charges.

Allard is an Army retiree who previously owned Little Caesars pizza locations in Clarksville and one in Paducah, Ky.

He was charged with one count of aggravated rape of a child on Feb. 6, 2017, following an investigation by Cumberland City police Chief Jason Gillespie.

Additional charges were included in a May 2017 indictment.

Allard remains in Stewart County jail, where he's been incarcerated since his arrest.

Mark Hicks can be reached at 931-212-7626 or on Twitter: @markhicksleaf.